Rick,
Thanks for posting the Tools of Inference message to the list. I'm glad I
was able to contribute something, as I get *so* much from the Learn-Org
list. I've received 6 messages requesting "The Story" and have forwarded to
you my standard response. If you believe it to be appropriate, please add
this posting to the list as well to save us all time in requesting/receiving
this information.
Thanks again for your efforts,
- James
>> BEGIN REPLY TO REQUESTS FOR "THE STORY"
>> The following message is best viewed using a fixed width font.
Greetings,
Thanks for your interest in the "tools of inference" referenced in my
4/28/96 posting to the Learning Organization mailing list. I've included
The Story exercise below within the body of this message, and also as a
MS-Word attachment.
[Host's Note: I've deleted the attachment; I don't distribute attached
files over the LO list. ...Rick]
My recommended approach for the exercise is to hand out a single page
containing the four sentence story, and the 15 statements about the story.
(See the section of this message between the "~~~~~~~~~~".)
Inform participants that they have all the information they need to complete
the exercise and that they *must* complete the statements independently and
turn over their page when they have done so. It is important to preclude
any conversation about the exercise until all participants have turned over
their pages and you have begun the de-brief process.
For your own learning, you may wish to complete the exercise now and refer
to the Debrief Process at the end of this message. ;-)
Enjoy!
--
James Ray
---------------------------------------------
AT&T Solutions Voice: 202-414-3905
Organizational Learning Fax: 202-414-3855
Washington, D.C. E-mail: jamesr@attsolhq.attmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>> The Story
A business man had just turned off the lights in the store when a man
appeared and demanded money. The owner opened a cash register. The
contents of the cash register were scooped up, and the man sped away.
A member of the police force was notified promptly.
Statements about the story (T/F)
1. A man appeared after the owner had turned off his store lights.
2. The robber was a man.
3. The man who appeared did not demand money.
4. The man who opened the cash register was the owner.
5. The store owner scooped up the contents of the cash register and
ran away.
6. Someone opened a cash register.
7. After the man who demanded the money scooped up the contents of
the cash register, he ran away.
8. While the cash register contained money the story does not state
how much.
9. The robber demanded money of the owner.
10. A businessman had just turned off the lights when a man appeared
in the store.
11. It was broad daylight when the man appeared.
12. The man who appeared opened the cash register.
13. No one demanded money.
14. The story concerns a series of events in which only three persons
are referred to: the owner of the store, a man who demanded
money, and a member of the police force.
15. The following events were included in the story: Someone demanded
money, a cash register was opened, its contents were scooped up,
and a man dashed out of the store.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The story and statements are a portion of the "Uncritical Inference Test".
copyrighted, 1955,1964,1967 by William V. Haney.
>>>>> Debrief Process
The first step in the de-brief is to list the numbers 1-15 on a flip-chart
and, for each question, ask for a simple count of the individuals who
answered the question True, False or with a "?". Here again, it is
important to remind participants to read directly from their answer sheet,
regardless of whether they begin to doubt their original answers as the
de-brief proceeds. Defer all conversation until after you've gathered the
data for all of the questions.
After you've completed the tally for all 15 questions, you may simply open
the floor for conversation about the exercise. You may wish to ask
participants to "rationalize" their answers to one or more questions where
there seems to be divergent opinion in the group. For example, question #1
requires an assumption that the "business man" referenced in the story is
also "the owner".
Only questions #3, #6 and #13 are unequivocably True or False based upon the
*facts* contained in the story. *All* other statements require an inference
or assumption to be made before the question could be answered as True or
False. And remember, you should not ask participants to answer the
statements as True or False; ask them only to "complete the statements" when
you distribute the exercise.
As referenced in my earlier posting, I use "The Story" to introduce the
Ladder of Inference and Angles of Inference models. These "tools of
inference" are then used to enable meaningful conversation during our work
together as a small group. I've included below some of the observations and
insights gathered during my previous work with groups using this exercise.
I would welcome your input for improving this exercise, and/or your
willingness to share your experiences using The Story or other exercises to
introduce these valuable concepts. Good luck!
>> Observations and Insights gathered from previous groups
Assumptions often made by participants:
> if a statement is not definitively true, then it must be false
(this assumption is reflective of linear thinking)
> it is inappropriate to challenge the -rules-, as represented by (T/F)
> -right vs. wrong- assumptions
> -win-lose- vs. -win-win- assumptions
Key learnings for participants:
> It is important to be aware of assumptions, and recognize one is
making them, though sometimes it will be necessary to make
assumptions (due to urgency of decisions, lacking complete
information)
> Dynamic tension between speed of decisions and cost of gathering
complete information (it is not practical to have all facts before
making decisions; assumptions are necessary)
> Balance the need for task completion (certainty) with full
consideration of the impact of each decision (made with incomplete
information) upon the final conclusions
> Increased awareness and sharing of assumptions can improve decision
making
> Individuals often have different levels of comfort with making
assumptions (i.e., ambiguity)
> Assumptions made by individuals (even for same questions) are
different
> Participants begin to recognize assumptions/inferences as they move
down the list >> Lesson: continually assess environment and be
willing to revisit decisions as new information becomes available
> Interdependence of assumptions increases the complexity tremendously
--
James Ray
---------------------------------------------
AT&T Solutions Voice: 202-414-3905
Organizational Learning Fax: 202-414-3855
Washington, D.C. E-mail: jamesr@attsolhq.attmail.com
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